UK’s border guards on strike but where are the French

DISTURBING gaps in security in the key “people smuggling” French port of Dunkirk have been uncovered by the Sunday Express.

The UK Border Agency had sent a strike-breaker from London to run the British checkpoin []

The port is routinely targeted by clever and ruthless smugglers but no officers were seen at a key police passport checkpoint, even though they were unaffected by a UK Border Agency staff strike.

Two Sunday Express journalists simply drove past the French security stop where the window was closed in the middle of the day when there are busy regular ferry crossings.

Officers manning other security points caught seven illegal immigrants that day while 31 were stopped at other French ports, an indication of how active people smugglers are along the French coastline.

French frontier police play a vital role in spotting potential people smugglers and work closely with British border agency staff working at the port.

The French officers are there to spot and hold terrorists, drug traffickers, people smugglers and other criminals trying to get into Britain.

The exchange of information between the two is vital in winning the battle against organised crime and illegal immigration. But the lack of French police on duty at the time of the Sunday Express spot check exposed a huge gap at a crucial time.

As French ports are so commonly used by people smugglers, travellers are supposed to be subjected to three checks before they board ferries bound for England. At Dunkirk the first check point is for staff working for the Danish DFDS ferry company which checks tickets against the names in passports. The second check is the more important French police position where specially trained officers are supposed to conduct scrupulous passport checks. The third is with UK Border Agency staff who see if passports are valid.

Officials at the port were unable to explain why the French officers were not on duty. “There are three checks but maybe the officer was on a break,” said a female worker at the main office.

The UK Border Agency had sent a strike-breaker from London to run the British checkpoint on Wednesday.

Looking slightly harassed, the young woman clearly had trouble working out where to put the passports on a reading machine and needed help from an older colleague. Explaining her slowness, she said politely: “I don’t normally work here. I’m an office girl sent from London.”

After the two-hour crossing, we entered the country easily with no one checking our passports at the port of Dover. Although there were officials at the customs checkpoint, backed up by police, we were not asked to show any documents and our vehicle was waved through.

Any criminal seeking to enter Britain on that day using fake passports and documents would probably have found the task relatively easy. A ferry employee told us on Tuesday last week two illegals successfully smuggled themselves on a vessel at Dunkirk but were nabbed at Dover.

It is known that smuggling gangs drop off their cargos of illegals at a lorry park by the port, where they are passed on to foreign lorry drivers, who hide them inside their vehicles for a substantial fee.

Concerns about security at Dunkirk have been raised for years because it is one of the favourite destinations of criminal gangs.

At one time illegals stayed in makeshift camps by the port. French police raided them and arrests were made.

In the nearby town of Mardyck, Mayor Gerard Blouchard, 65, says although the illegals are not so visible, they are around. “They hide by sand dunes along the coast and come out at night. If they come into the populated areas they know they’ll be arrested,” he said.

A UK Border Agency spokesman insisted security was its top priority.

“We’ve stopped more than 5,000 attempts to cross the border this year. Robust contingency plans were in place to maintain security during the strike and this led to 38 illegal immigrants being stopped at our border controls in France, including seven at Dun- kirk,” he said.